Spanish-Language Giant Univision Shows "Historic" First Novela Gay Marriage

The drama was high as Estefano and Jean wondered if Estefano's stern and conservative mom would attend the wedding. She did, with GLAAD calling the scene "historic."

Wearing matching french vanilla suits and lavender ties, Estefano and Jean looked on in suspense, wondering what Estefano's famously conservative mom would say after showing up to their marriage ceremony in the novela "Amores Verdaderos," True Love.

"Mother," her son Estefano said. "Madam Longoria," his partner Jean added, sheepishly. "Silence!" she said, as intimidating as ever.

Via youtube.com

"Here I am with you," she said, still kinda scary. "I wanted to be by your side in this moment," she added, breaking the tension as she embraced her emotional son.

Via youtube.com

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), called the development "historic" and spoke to BuzzFeed about why a soap opera scene matters to the LGBT community.

"It's important because not everyone consumes the same kind of media," says Brian Pacheco, Spanish-language media strategist with GLAAD. "Even though LGBT-issues make news, they might not impact someone the same way as a novela. It's another way of accessing the population."

Viewers took to Twitter to talk about the uniqueness of what they saw.

Via Twitter: @JairJaimes

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Pacheco says images and narratives in media have an incredible importance and cites Vice President Joe Biden, who said he became accepting of gay marriage through watching the sitcom, Wil and Grace.

As for Spanish-language media, he notes that Univision airing Amores Verdaderos is important because the company behind the novela is Televisa, which has traditionally been conservative in highlighting LGBT lives.

Pacheco said Spanish-language network Telemundo has shown "more fleshed out and multi-dimensional gay characters" but that Univision was a big deal because it is the largest Spanish-language network, and recently announced that it will be the most-watched network on television overall in July.

Pacheco says there is still room for progress, noting that while Telemundo had gay characters with supportive friends and family, they would never kiss.

For Pacheco, like many who tuned in, the gay marriage was a special moment -- only topped by the tuxedo-wearing, chubby pug.